Lately many on WordPress have taken to bashing Facebook. Of course it’s your choice whether to join or not join as the case may be however I have found Facebook to be helpful to me in certain cases.

My main purpose in using Facebook is connecting with friends, family, former and current co-workers. I have found school classmates from 45/50 years ago! Facebook is the easiest way to set up meetings, get-togethers, parties, etc….. There is no way in the world you can know everyone’s phone number or email nor do you have the time to make that many phone calls. Also it is a way to share important news via Facebook Messenger. That’s how I found out one of my former co-workers had died a few months ago. If another co-worker had not let us know on her page I would not have been able to attend the viewing/funeral. Despite it being a sad affair because the woman who died was only 54 I did get to see co-workers I had not seen in nearly 20 years. Basically you really only see people at weddings or funerals. Lately for me mostly the latter. Many of my friends have gotten married, moved outside or New York City or live too far away for immediate contact. Also my museum and my Union DC 37 has their own individual pages that distributes relevant news to Union Members. It is also a place to ask questions and voice concerns. Yes we do have union meetings but the museum has three separate locations and various shifts and those of us not in the Main Building cannot attend the Union Meetings.

Also you have a better chance of contacting me via Facebook rather than calling or emailing me. I work long strange hours however I check Facebook every day. I also check my email every day so either are good in my case.

In terms of business, marketing and promotional use I use Facebook now to showcase my photography blog Roaming Urban Gypsy.

Black Genealogy Page

One Mothers Day several years ago I posted my Maternal Grandmother Hattie Finney Banks photo on the Black Genealogy Page. Now this page is not just for African-Americans. Many whites go to the page in search of their Black ancestors. One such white lady saw my Grandmother’s photo and contacted me. She was actually searching for her Black son who had died but who had left behind a daughter. Her goal was to find family connections for the little girl.

This woman had information on my grandparents and Great-grandparents including death certificates and newspaper articles that I would have never found on my own. She still lives in the West Virginia town where most of my maternal family members including my mother were born. Turns out we were not related but we became friends and I’m always happy to hear from her on Facebook.

Autism Activism

In May of 2015 the New York Times published an article about me and my brother Stephen. I posted the article on Facebook and it went Viral! My friends, family and co-workers share it on their pages and everywhere. The result: Jan. 2016 while at work I received a phone call from Gov. Cuomo’s office personally inviting me to a Paid Family Leave Rally in the city. Next year starting Jan. 2018 the state of New York will have Paid Family Leave for all it’s residents!! Booyah!! I’m not going to reprint all the past links but if you search between May 2015 and Jan. 2016 you’ll see all the work I put in along with my team to help achieve this goal.

Now if I had published the same New York Times article on WordPress which I did eventually I would not have gotten the same result mostly because most of my Subscribers/Followers on WordPress are from countries outside the U.S.A. and this news would not affect them or have any meaning. Even those U.S. Followers/Subscribers most of them are not from New York again my news would have not meaning so there would be no reason to share.

Also every last U.S. elected official has a Facebook page. This is how you contact them. That’s how I communicated with the representative for Stephen’s district. Many times this is easier than all the phone calls I’ve been making.

Conclusion

Facebook has many benefits if you use it in the right way. Activism and Advocacy takes place on Facebook. This is how Activists like myself find out at demonstrations, rallies, marches, etc… For those of you who are anti-Facebook we are not going back into time. Whether you are selling books, artwork, photography or establishing coalitions for positive change Facebook will continue to be a tool for effective communication.

Last but not Least you don’t have to Friend everyone who contacts you. Plus if the person becomes a problem just UnFriend or Block them! Don’t like the racism, discrimination in certain FB Groups. Leave! Problem solved. Folks the FB Genie has been out of the bottle for years and there is no going backwards in time.

One Word Photo Challenge: Family

Part III: People, Places & Things

If you want to share a literal image of the actual word, do that. But if you’d rather play with word association, post something that reminds you of the specific word, or something you use the word for, do so. It only has to make sense to you. Have fun and keep on photographing!

This is Well Worth a ReBlog for Black History Month Feb. 2017!! Celebrating the Women Warriors of the Civil Rights Movement!! Long Live the Revolution!!

Fannie Lou Hamer ~~ One of the Queen Mothers of The Civil Rights Movement

I know that this weekend Americans are celebrating the Birthday and Life of Martin Luther King, Jr. but I want to focus on the Mothers of the Civil Rights Movement in America. Many Americans have no idea about these great African American Women who risked life and limb for the freedoms we now all enjoy and some take for granted. They endured jail under harsh conditions and were often beaten within an inch of their lives just because they wanted to register to have the Right to Vote! Seems shocking but in terms of American History these protests, marches and speeches took place a scant 50 or 60 years ago. As I have heard some of the elders say, We Stand on the Shoulders of Giants. Fannie Lou Hamer is one of those Giants.

“God will not have his work be manifest by cowards,”- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Fannie Lou Hamer – “I Don’t Mind My Light Shining”

Fannie Lou Hamer – “We’re On Our Way”

Fannie Lou Hamer – “Until I am Free You are Not Free Either”

Fannie Lou Hamer : At the 1964 Democratic National Committee

As most of my readers know by now I’m not a woman who holds her tongue. I’m bold, brash, outspoken and unafraid. I call things as I see them. A Revolutionary, Activist and Outcast all wrapped into One! I’m beholden to no man save the Lord God. Real Life. Real Talk. Grown Folks speech. Where do I get my Fierceness from?

I have neither chick nor child. Thelma Palmer Varner

I’m Free, Black & 21. Edward G. Palmer

Deborah all you need to do in this life is Stay Black, pay taxes and die. Edward G. Palmer

I also remember all the stories from my mother Mable Elizabeth Palmer, Grandmother Hattie Finney Banks, Maternal Aunts Helen James and Gladys Young; Paternal Aunts Helen Palmer Garcia and Thelma Palmer Varner of what it was like to be Black during the early part of the 20th Century. Jim Crow at it’s worst. Now there is a resurgence of hatred against People of Color and those who follow faiths outside Christianity. Yes History does repeat itself. The Tea Party, Christian Identity Movement, American Nazi Party, Klu Klux Klan, Fox News are all wearing the same White hoods under their three piece designer suits.

Back in 2014 when I turned 55 I entered the Council of Elders. I take my position and responsibilities seriously. I cannot and will not stand idly by while people are persecuted, harassed and bullied simply for the color of their skin. I believe everything happens for a reason. God, the Universe, Lord, Jehovah or Creator places us in certain situations to see what we will do, how we will react and will we really Live our Christianity or whatever faith you follow. As the Bible says, Faith without works is dead.

So as the expression goes if you can’t take the heat get out of the kitchen! Okay So you know what’s coming next!! Get Ready!!

F.E.A.R ~~ False Evidence Appearing Real

We hide behind that Wall of Silence thinking if I’m just quiet enough I can slip under the radar. They won’t see me. I can hide and everything will be alright not knowing or not caring that Silence = Death.

We’ve become a society of trained apathetic circus clowns who when the powers that be say jump we ask how high. If we shuck and jive continually bowing down to the institution plantation head clowns. If we kiss their ass long enough perhaps we will be permitted the privilege of being allowed to slave another day.

Reduced to a mass of sniveling groveling cowards we’ve sold our birthrights for the few crumbs that drop from the Overseers table. We rant and rave against Trayvon Martin, Ferguson, Staten Island and other atrocities but back away from the injustice in our own backyards. Completely ignoring all the weapons within reach, easily at our disposal. All we have to do is pick them up use them but instead we say it’s not happening to me so I’m safe. Safe for how long? Who guarantees that you’ll magically be released at the age of 62 or now 66? There are no outside saviors. It’s you that will make a difference. Do you really think that by ignoring the cries of others that evil, harm, & wickedness won’t come your way? You’re living in a glass bubble. And why post scriptures of peace, love and redemption without acknowledging that even Jesus got angry and threw the money-changers out of the Temple. But No we mix idly among thieves, robbers, rapists, stalkers tethered to electronic mind numbing devices entranced by technological marvels ignoring the mud and filth accumulating on our clothes while building empires in the sand. Yes the brainwashing has been completed successfully and the new slave masters smile from on high.

Lately especially since I turned 50 several years ago I’ve been to more wakes and funerals than birthdays. My generation, Baby Boomers are passing away. The baton is being passed to the Millennials. Turning 50 seems to be the catalyst for health problems and medical issues. One of the few good things about 2016 is that this is the first year since 2008 that I have not been in the hospital as a patient. Actually my health drama began at age 49 with a mini-stroke that had my life literally passing before my eyes. Facing death you realize how much you want to live but after turning 50 you already know you’ve live more than half your life and there are more years behind you than in front of you.

This is why I dread Christmas and I don’t make a big deal of the Holiday season. Christmas usually brings bad news mostly somebody has died.

Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years have become one long anxiety and panic attack for me.

I know next year to avoid discussing despised fake, phony Christmas I’m gonna do a moratorium on posting after Veteran’s day until the first week in January has passed. I don’t want to deal with any more Holiday Greetings and I’m tired of putting on an act of a season I’ve come to hate with a passion.

Now obviously I will attend the company Christmas party because I don’t want to be thought of as a Grinch and I’m happy for the folks who do celebrate. More power to them and I Love to eat. Goodies are available.

Truthfully Christmas means absolutely NOTHING TO ME!! Jesus was not born on December 25th and he was Jewish!! If Jesus were on earth today he would be celebrating Hanukkah not Christmas!! As a Christian I see no point in make believe cheer during the holidays and those same people who wish you Happy Holidays will curse you out January 2nd.

Most important that the commercialism and merchandising of Christmas is the state of your soul. Your standing with God in whatever ever belief system you follow. When you die God will not ask you anything about Christmas but rather how you treated your fellow human beings for your time on this earth.

I know my time to meet the Lord is coming. Perhaps sooner than later. As my Dad used to say, “Straighten up and Fly Right.” Or to quote my Grandmother Hattie Finney Banks, “It’s time to Get Right with God!”

The only thing that matters to me now is my status or right standing with the Lord!

2 Corinthians 5:8

King James Version (KJV)

8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.